Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ period of time, event, person, or thing is the one that comes immediately after the present one or after the previous one.
I got up early the ~ morning.
...the ~ available flight...
Who will be the ~ prime minister?...
I want my ~ child born at home...
Many senior citizens have very few visitors from one week to the ~...
ORD
2.
You use ~ in expressions such as ~ Friday, ~ day and ~ year to refer, for example, to the first Friday, day, or year that comes after the present or previous one.
Let’s plan a big night ~ week...
He retires ~ January...
Next day the EU summit strengthened their ultimatum.
DET
•
Next is also an adjective.
I shall be 26 years old on Friday ~.
ADJ: n ADJ
•
Next is also a pronoun.
He predicted that the region’s economy would grow by about six per cent both this year and ~.
PRON
3.
The ~ place or person is the one that is nearest to you or that is the first one that you come to.
Grace sighed so heavily that Trish could hear it in the ~ room...
The man in the ~ chair was asleep...
Stop at the ~ corner. I’m getting out.
ADJ: det ADJ
4.
The thing that happens ~ is the thing that happens immediately after something else.
Next, close your eyes then screw them up tight...
I don’t know what to do ~...
The news is ~.
ADV: ADV with cl, ADV after v, be ADV
5.
When you ~ do something, you do it for the first time since you last did it.
I ~ saw him at his house in Berkshire...
When we ~ met, he was much more jovial.
ADV: ADV before v
6.
You use ~ to say that something has more of a particular quality than all other things except one. For example, the thing that is ~ best is the one that is the best except for one other thing.
The one thing he didn’t have was a son. I think he’s felt that a grandson is the ~ best thing...
At least three times more daffodils are grown than in Holland, the ~ largest grower.
= second
ADV: ADV adj-superl
7.
You use after ~ in expressions such as the week after ~ to refer to a period of time after the ~ one. For example, when it is May, the month after ~ is July.
...the party’s annual conference, to be held in Bournemouth the week after ~.
PHRASE: n PHR
8.
If you say that you do something or experience something as much as the ~ person, you mean that you are no different from anyone else in the respect mentioned.
I’m as ambitious as the ~ man. I’d like to manage at the very highest level.
PHRASE: as group PHR emphasis
9.
If one thing is ~ to another thing, it is at the other side of it.
She sat down ~ to him on the sofa.
...at the southern end of the Gaza Strip ~ to the Egyptian border...
The car was parked in the small weedy lot ~ to the hotel.
= beside
PREP-PHRASE
10.
You use ~ to in order to give the most important aspect of something when comparing it with another aspect.
Her children were the number two priority in her life ~ to her career...
= after
PREP-PHRASE
11.
You use ~ to before a negative, or a word that suggests something negative, to mean almost, but not completely.
Johnson still knew ~ to nothing about tobacco...
Most pre-prepared weight loss products are ~ to useless.
= virtually
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR, PHR nothing /adj